Three shouts in 12 hours for Angle RNLI

The first call came at 8.59am this morning following a call for assistance from a 11.2m yacht with one person onboard, struggling with the sea conditions 17 miles south south-west of St Ann’s Head. The lifeboat launched shortly after and began making best speed to the vessel, arriving on scene around 40 minutes later.

After an assessment of the situation and with no other vessels able to help, the safest option was to rig a tow and take the vessel to safety. The crew rigged and passed a tow and a course was set for Dale. After a successful tow lasting just over two hours, both vessels arrived safely off Dale.

With the skipper content that he could motor to a safe anchorage under his own power, the tow was dropped. With no further assistance required, the crew were stood down and returned to station where the lifeboat was readied for further service by 1pm.

The second call of the day came at 8.12pm when the crew were tasked to assist a 6.4m open boat with two persons onboard that had run out of fuel near the mid channel pole at the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway. With a tanker inbound to the Haven and with no means of propulsion there was concern for the safety of the vessel’s occupants. The lifeboat launched and was on scene with the vessel around 10 minutes later.

After an assessment of the situation, the safest course of action was to take the vessel under tow to Neyland. Whilst towing past Milford, the lifeboat was immediately retasked to respond to an Undesignated Distress Call (DSC) activation from a yacht 22 miles south, south-east of St Ann’s Head. The crew set about leaving the current casualty vessel on the nearest available mooring and began making best speed to the distress position.

Tenby all-weather lifeboat and Coastguard Rescue Helicopter R187 were also proceeding, and 45 minutes later Angle lifeboat acquired a radar target, before gaining visual of what they believed to be the casualty vessel.

Once alongside the vessel, the crew found the yacht's skipper safe and well and it transpired that he had become disoriented and activated his DSC. With this, Tenby lifeboat and the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter were stood down to return to their respective stations.

Following an assessment of the situation the safest course of action was to take the casualty vessel under tow and return them to the safety of Milford Marina.

The lifeboat and casualty yacht arrived at Milford Marina at 3am and left the yacht and its lone occupant safely alongside. The crew were then stood down and returned to station where the lifeboat was readied for further service by 3.30am.